Riding Home
by XSupplice
Summary: Yusei makes sure Aki gets home safely after a long day. They talk a while and get to know each other better. M just to be on the safe side. Set after Aki gets her license, but before WRGP.
1. prologue

Prologue

_The wind roared by, as she sped off into the night._

_She'd gotten to know a little of his heart,_

_the heart of the man riding next to her,_

_the man she loved._

_All the while, the wind roared as the two sped on._

* * *

A/N:

Yeah, that was weird…

This is my first one, so let me know how I do.

Form here on, _italics_ shows something that the character thinks to themselves.

ie

_What was that _[statement] _supposed to mean?_

Or

_Why would he think that?_

This one is written in first person, and the POV switches from Aki to Yusie every chapter. The chapters will overlap a little, just so I can show what booth people are feeling/thinking at critical moments.

Again, let me know if I'm doing well.

This'll probably be kinda cliché, but I'm gonna try to add new elements.

Let me know what works/doesn't work, especially the characters and the POV. I'm trying to portray the characters the way I see them: Aki as still a little scared, unsure of who she is, and her relationship with others, and Yusei as kind, but not very knowledgeable with women and such, but very caring and afraid of hurting Aki.

Anyway, enough of me blabbering, on with the story!

Oh yeah, I don't own Yu Gi Oh! 5D's!


	2. Chapter 1

Don't own 5d's…

Chapter 1

Aki's POV

I looked back at my little garage slot at the two D-Wheels parked there. One was red and belonged to Neo Domino City's King of Riding Duels; the other was mine, and its color more matched that of my hair.

Both of these machines were made by the same hands, the hands of the man next to me, the man I may or may not love; the man who may o may not love me back, though I hoped he did.

_I wonder why he's here. Maybe? _ No, I would not let myself go down that path. He treats everyone well. He just rode home with you to make sure you were same, just like he said. He probably just wants to see your apartment, just like he said.

He did build my D-Wheel… no, Crow and Jack helped…

Why was he here?

"Hey, you ok?" I was jolted out of my reverie by his voice, the voice of Yusei Fudo, the King of Turbo Duels, the man I might love. _NO! Not that again! Stop thinking that! _ I chided myself.

"Yeah, just thinking. Let's go up", I replied.

"Ok"

I led the way up the stairs to my small apartment. As we climbed, I noticed that he was trailing a bit behind me, and studiously looking down, as if afraid to cast his gaze upward.

"Are _you_ ok?" I asked Yusei.

"Yeah, why do you ask?"

"You're just looking down and walking kinda slow, that's all." _Is he that tired? Hmm… maybe I should suggest he stay here for the night… Oh god, not this again…_

"No, it's nothing. Don't worry about it.."

"Oh, ok." _I guess_ I added in my head.

_Is he ok? He looks kinda nervous, maybe a little upset. I wonder what's wrong?_

I continued my musings until we got to my door. I unlocked it, and we headed into my small three-room apartment; well, four rooms if you count the bathroom as one…

"Well, this is where I live. I'm just gonna go change quick, k?" I had decided to get out of my riding suit because it was kinda uncomfortable.

"Sure, I'll be right here when you're done. You mind if I look around a bit?", Yusei replied.

"Sure. Be right back." _He looks odd… is something wrong?_

I didn't know what the expression he was wearing meant, and it worried me a little.

I started to freak out a little when I got into my room. _Why is he here? Does he like me, or is he just being a friend? What should I wear?_ That last one was because I wanted him to notice me, but didn't want to look trashy. I wanted to look cute, relaxed.

_What do I do?_

* * *

A/N

Just updated this chapter a little and fixed some of the stuff people suggested in the reviews.

New chapters soon

-XSupplice


	3. Chapter 2

Don't own 5d's…

Chapter 2

Yusei's POV

I was in Aki's apartment. Why? I don't know. I really don't.

I like her, maybe more than as a friend, but this was too much.

She'd been hurt, hurt by everyone she'd ever loved, and I couldn't add myself to that list, no mater how much I wanted to.

Its not that I didn't think we would be happy together. We had a lot of fun, just the two of us at the skating rink, but I didn't want tot start something that would end with her having a broken heart.

The two of them had been out riding, giving Aki some practice riding and dueling on her D-Wheel. It had gotten late, and Aki had decided she wanted to go home. I was a little worried about her. She was, after all, still new to riding duels, and to riding her D-Wheel, so I rode home with her, with all honesty, just to make sure nothing happened to her because she was tired. I just wanted to make sure she was safe.

When we got here, I decided I wanted to see her apartment; I was already here after all.

Yeah. That's what I told myself, but I couldn't force away the feeling that there was more to it than I admitted even to myself.

Still, it wasn't that bad, we were friends; she'd been tot my house, so why shouldn't I see hers. But that should have been it. I should have left, gone home. I should have just let her show me around, and then gone back to where _I _lived.

But I was still here.

_Why? Why did I stay? _I kept asking myself.

_Oh well_, my less noble side said, _might as well look around while I'm here…_

So I did. I shrugged off my riding coat and just wandered around, looking at the things she had.

Her apartment seemed to be three rooms: the main room, with a table, and a small area to cook, kinda like you see in a condo, with a 'c' shape counter sectioning it off

from the rest of the room.

There was the bedroom, where Aki was, and I assumed there was a bathroom somewhere in there.

And then there was another room, which I hadn't gone in yet. So I did what any normal person would do, and explored this other room.

It was kinda small, and filled with stuff, most of it seemed to be related to art. There was a drawing table, a little easel, paints, pencils, more paints, colored pencils… Pretty much what you'd expect in the craft room, which is what I took this to be.

_I never knew Aki painted, or drew, or did any art of any kind… _ I mused as I looked at the assortment of things around me.

I sat down on the couch that sat against one wall, and just took in the room; the room that gave evidence to a new facet of Aki's personality.

I stood up to see what she was working on now. It was just a sketch at the moment; a sketch of someone on a D-Wheel. It actually looked like mine, but I just wrote that off as my imagination.

I noticed a stack of paper, which seemed to be her completed works.

There was one of Jack drinking coffee, and Another of Jack and Mikage talking. I laughed at one of Jack being yelled at by Crow. Then there were a few of Crow playing with his Satellite orphans, and then him with Martha. I counted six of the twins, Rua and Ruka, playing, dueling, and messing around with the others.

She drew and painted things that were common in her life. I hadn't seen any of me yet, but I tried to ignore that. _Maybe I just haven't seen them yet; her pictures seem to be organized by subject…_

The next one I saw was all of us: Crow kneeling down smiling at the twins, who were laughing at something, well, Rua was laughing, Ruka looked annoyed; Jack was standing a little to the side, arms crossed, a haughty look on his face, talking with Mikage, who was gesturing with one hand; Bruno was standing across from Jack, also watching the twins' antics; and there I was, standing in the center of all of this, smiling at everyone being happy together.

Underneath all of this was written, in elegant script, _My family._

I felt my heart swell at the way she thought of us.

I continued looking through here art. This seemed to be the 'this is what Yusei does' section.

And boy was it long!

There was me dueling, me sitting, me talking, lots of me working on my or someone else's D-Wheel; most of these seemed to have me without my jacket. Now I know I do this from time to time because it gets hot in that garage, but most of my mechanic shots had my arms exposed.

_Maybe she likes my arms…_

_No, gotta get away from that…_

I was almost to the end, and I was still in Yusei land.

The next few weren't of people, but of dragons. Specifically, our dragons: Black Rose Dragon, Aki's ace, and Stardust Dragon, my ace. The first was a familiar scene: Stardust wrapping it's wings around Black Rose, while Black Rose tried to beat him off with her vine like tentacles. It was our first duel. Stardust was stopping Black Rose from destroying the stadium. I was stopping Aki from hurting people, saving them, and her, from herself.

_Maybe that's why she made this one, to remind herself of what I did…_

The next was of Black Rose backed against something big and rocky, not really drawn all the way. She seemed to be cowering in fear. In front of her stood Stardust, facing some unseen threat. Stardust was standing firmly, feet planted, one foreleg on the ground, other seemed poised to strike the approaching threat. This seemed not unlike the position a football player takes before a play starts, read for anything. My dragon's tail was extended, neck arched, wings spread wide in a challenge. His teeth were bared, and his eyes blazing.

I looked in awe at the detail Aki had put into my favorite monster.

_Does she see me like this? Poised to defend her from anything?_

_I hope so, because I am…_

I got to the last picture and froze. For one thing, it was the only one that Aki had put herself in.

Second, I was holding her; not hugging, holding. It was a loving embrace, I was smiling, but it seemed protective to, like I was shielding her from the world.

More surprising was that I appeared to be naked, or at least shirtless.

The picture started at Aki's armpits, meaning most of my chest was in it. There seemed to be a lot of detail in my chest and arms…

Aki also seemed to be naked, or shirtless, or whatever. While its possible she was intended to be wearing something strapless and low cut, but it seemed unlikely, as she never wore those sorts of tops in normal life, and well, if I'm shirtless, naked, whatever, it seemed logical that she would be too.

Most surprising, even more so than our apparent nudity, was Aki's expression. She seemed totally at peace, happier than I've ever seen her in real life, completely blissful as she snuggled into my bare chest.

_!_

_?_

_!!_

_?!?!?_

…

My mind wasn't ready for coherent thought just yet.

_Does she really feel this way about me? _

_Would she really be that happy to be in my arms?_

_Does she really feel that I protect her like that?_

_Does this mean she loves me?_

I had no idea. No answers to these questions.

It was in this moment of thought that I heard her bedroom door open, and she called my name.

I quickly put a few pictures back on the pile. She didn't need to know that I had seen

those last few…

"In here", I called to her.

"Oh hey! There you are", she chirped happily.

_Oh my God…_

And there she was.

_This is gonna be interesting…_ I thought to myself.

She was wearing pajamas, that much was sure, but they weren't like any I had seen before. They looked comfortable, no doubt, as they flowed over her body like water, hugging every curve. Her pose did nothing to help my concentration as she leaded provocatively against the door frame, sticking out her hips.

It was gonna be hard to keep my eyes on her eyes.

_Oh God… _ was all I would think.

* * *

A/N

Yeah…

Sorry to end like this, but I have a real paper to write, like for a grade and stuff…

This is also where I'll switch back to Aki's perspective, so it's the end of this chapter.

The M rating was for the whole naked picture thing. Not sure if it deserves it, but I just wanted to be on the safe side.

Review please. What worked? What didn't?

Are my characters in character? Or not?

Story?

POV?

Writing?

Please help me make this as good as a can make it.

Next couple chapters will be up soon.

-XSupplice


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